Interchangeable foot lever mechanism for vending machines



April 1969 AQT. DANDREA 3,435,699

INTERCHANGE'ABLE FOOT LEVER MECHANISM FOR VENDING MACHINES Filed Jime30, 1967 FiG.i.

, -INVENTOR AmmnyTmmm EAndreo FIG.2.

. ATTORNEYS United States Patent U.S. Cl. 74-481 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A foot pedal actuating attachment is provided for mechanisms which are normally hand crank operated. The attachment effects operation of the normally hand crank operated portion of the mechanism independently of and without effecting movement of the hand crank.

The present invention relates to amusement mechanisms, such as token-controlled vending machines normally operated by a hand lever which lever is freed for use by a token or coin. Such machines are generally of a well-known type and may be either electrical or mechanical.

An object of this invention is to provide novel foot level means adapted to be in constant operative interchangeable connection whereby such foot lever means may be used when desired in lieu of the usual crank handle pivotally mounted on a shaft member extending from the interior to the exterior of the machine cabinet.

Another object is to provide a novel foot pedal and linkage having a novel connecting plate for the actuating mechanism of the machine, whereby such foot pedal and linkage may be installed in standard mechanisms for optimum performance with a minimum of labor by unskilled persons.

Still another object is to provide a novel pedal means to operate mechanisms having a manually-operated hand crank, whereby such mechanisms may be mounted in various elevated positions where the hand crank is not suitable for certain operators, but wherein the foot pedal may be more conveniently accessible. v

With the foregoing and various other novel features and advantages and other objects of my invention as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claims hereunto annexed and more fully described and referred to in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation view of an embodiment of the present invention illustrating a vending machine and a suitable stand or the like supported on a surface, such as the floor, with a lever and link connected to a foot pedal and extending upward into the vending machine cabinet into operative position with respect to the vending mechanisms therein normally solely hand crank controlled;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of a detail of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail and first with reference to embodiment one in FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a floor supported cabinet 10 having a flat support surface for a suitable type of vending machine 11 or the like. Such machine for example being a type which includes a hand crank 12 at its exterior side. This handle is keyed to a stub shaft 13 which extends into the machine cabinet and carries operating lug means 14 engageable with an extended operating lug 15. This lug is preferably rounded and mounts on a spring biased dog 16 or the like Patented Apr. 1, 1969 to a ratchet wheel or the like of the machine, and the lug is moved vertically up and down in guide means 17 to operate the machine when the handle is pulled. The extent of the throw of the handle is usually indicated by the actuation of a bell or the like to signal th operator to release the handle for each cycle of machine operation, such as is well known in the art.

The present novel foot lever, linkage and connecting member of this invention is positioned so as to also be in a novel operative relation to the machine actuator lug 15 of the machine inside the vending machine cabinet, see FIG. 1.

This foot mechanism comprises a foot pedal 20 carried by a lever 21 pivoted in a bifurcated lever support 22 mounted inside the fioor cabinet 10. The end of the foot lever 21, which is inside the cabinet 10, is formed with an opening 23 in its end 24 opposite to the foot pedal end 25, which is extended outside the floor cabinet 10 to be readily accessible for depressing by an operators foot. The opening 23 is aligned with similar aligned openings 26 and 27 in the bifurcations or ears of the support 22 and pivotally connected by suitable bearing means, such as an elongated pin or bolt 29 and suitable means 30 to lock the bolt in operative position.

Also pivotally connected to the foot pedal lever 21, preferably within the cabinet 10, is an operating link 32 formed at its lower extremity with a bifurcated end 33 and spaced openings 34 and at its upper extremity with a fiat plate or fiag 35. This plate or flag may be secured to the end of the link 32 in a slot 36 and secured therein by fastener means, such as bolts 37 and 38, see FIG. 2. The openings 40 at the lower end of the link 32 are aligned with a matching opening 39 in the foot lever 21 and provision is made to pivot the lever 21 and the link 32 together by suitable means, such as a bolt or pin 41 pro- 'vided with suitable means to lock the bolt in position,

such as a lock nut 42 or a cotter pin.

In some instances it may be desirable to form the link 32 with an offset section 43 to compensate for cabinet shapes and to keep the link 32 enclosed within the cabinet 10, for example as shown in FIG. 2.

OPERATION OF EMBODIMENT ONE As readily discernable from FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings, the plate or flag 35 carried by the upper slotted end of the link 32 is arranged and proportioned so as to be in a superimposed position above, and preferably slightly out of contact with, the usual lug 15 carried by the standard machine operating mechanism in the vending machine cabinet 11. Thus, when an operator desires to discontinue or bypass the usual hand crank to operate the machine, he places his foot on the pedal 20 and depresses the foot lever 21, whereby the link 32 is pulled downward at the pivot connection point provided by bolt or pin 41 and the lower edge 44 of the flag 35 engages and cams the lug 15 downward to actuate the machine mechanism for one cycle of vending operation, see FIG- URE 2.

The foot lever 21 swings in an arcuate path from its fulcrum or pivot connection with the support 22 mounted inside the floor cabinet 10 and is spring returned after each foot depression of the foot lever by a return spring 50 anchored at one end to the bolt or pin 41 and at the other end to the cabinet wall on a fastener means 51.

Thus, with each downward foot pedal operation the vending machine is operated for one cycle of performance freely and independently of the side hand crank whenever desired.

Thus, there is provided a novel vending machine, or the like for foot operation thereof, whereby the novel foot operating assembly is made for simple and easy attachment to any of many standard type vending machines and is so shaped and proportioned as to permit either the standard hand crank to operate the machine or to permit the independent operation of the machine by the foot operating assembly.

Without further description it is believed that the ad vantages of the present invention over the prior art is apparent and while only two embodiments of the same are illustrated, it is to be expressly understood that the invention is not limited thereto as various changes may be made in the combination and arrangement of the parts illustrated, as will now likely appear to others and those skilled in the art. For a definition of the scope or limits of the invention, reference should be had to the appended claims.

What is claimed:

1. A foot lever operating assembly for attachment to standard hand crank operated vending machines and the like comprising stacked cabinet structures, the lower one having a top surface for supporting the vending machine cabinet and its parts, said foot lever operating assembly comprising afoot lever having a pedal carried by one end, a support pivotally mounting said lever secured to the interior bottom surface of said lower cabinet, a link extending from said lever and operating means on said link connectable with an operating part of the vending machine by depressing said -foot lever pedal independently of any connection with the hand crank of the machine.

2. Foot lever mechanism for attachment to hand crank operated mechanisms for independent operation with respect to said handcrank comprising a foot lever, a pedal for the lever, a vertical link pivoted to said lever, a support for said lever to pivot on, and a connector means on said link for operating the normally hand crank operated mechanisms independently of any hand crank movement.

3. Foot lever mechanism as described in claim 2, wherein the support for said lever is bifurcated to provide spaced ears with aligned openings therein and wherein said foot lever is formed with a mating opening to align with said ear openings, and a pivot means is secured in said aligned opening to provide for oscillation of the foot lever.

4. Foot lever mechanism as described in claim 2, wherein said foot lever is pivoted to said support at one end, to thereby pull said link pivoted thereto downwardly with said connector means.

5. Foot lever mechanism as described in claim 2, wherein said connector means is a flat plate having an edge engagable with a part of a machine mechanism normally engageable by a part on the shaft of a hand crank.

6. Foot lever mechanism as described in claim 2, wherein said link is formed with a slot in the upper end thereof and said connector means comprises a flag-shaped plate secured in said slot by suitable means.

7. A foot pedal attachment for standard hand crank operated cabinet enclosed mechanisms comprising a foot lever having oscillating movement mounted below a cabinet enclosed mechanism, a pedal on one end of the lever, a support to which said lever is pivoted mounted below said cabinet enclosed mechanism, a link extending from said lever angularly and vertically upward into the said cabinet enclosed mechanism, and a plate carried by the upper endof the link so shaped and so proportioned as to fit freely between the working parts of the cabinet mechanism in normally disconnected but operative relation'to the'specific mechanism parts for initiating each operating cycle of the mechanism only-when the foot pedal is depressed.

-8. A foot pedal as defined in claim 7, wherein said foot lever is connected to a spring, to thereby be spring retracted after each depression by said foot pedal.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1899 Lovering 74-512 1/1968 Erickson 74--512 X US. Cl. X.R. 

